Visit this new diner just once, and your stomach may begin to growl whenever you near 40th Street ever after. The grass-fed hamburgers at Ingo's Tasty Food, the newest restaurant concept from LGO Hospitality (the folks behind popular Arcadia staples including La Grande Orange grocery, Chelsea's Kitchen, and Grateful Spoon Gelato), are tops.
This gleaming metal-and-brick, single-room cylindrical structure is part burger stand, part theater-in-the-round, with a cool curved counter where diners can watch while Chef Dom Ruggerio and his attractive staff prepare the best burgers in town. Each begins with a thick puck of grass-fed beef, cooked to a pinkish medium rare and seasoned with only salt and pepper. The simple cheddar cheeseburger is moist and chop-house sized, and the Paris Texas Burger, a tangy barbecue sandwich served with smoky-sharp apple barbecue sauce and pancetta, is great, too. The Farmer's Daughter Burger is the real winner, though. A tasty take on the Reuben, with a thick, tightly packed patty of perfectly cooked beef in place of corned beef, housemade Dijon sauce, a slice of Fol Epi cheese, and a pile of wilted sauerkraut under a soft, shiny-crusted poppy seed bun from the LGO Bake Shop. Do you hear growling?
